I was told off by a work colleague

[selepele]

i have been at my current job since June, the person concerned has been there longer than me. He is the accounts guy, not my manager and I do not need to answer to him at all.

He works downstairs and me upstairs but you can see my desk if you walk round the corner from downstairs as I'm at the top of the stairs.

I work as admin so people sometimes ask me to type up stuff for them ect, which is no issues. I was hired to do the project manager and ICT persons admin.

so this particular person I have never had issues with and had a good relationship with until today.

He ask me to type up some stuff and I ask when does he need it by which he says "its not urgent, like 2-3 days I don't need it today" he gave me this work around 3pm

so everyone has left the office and it is just me and him (we are a small team of around 8) he walks pass the stairs (at the bottom of the stairs) once and sees me on my phone, he then does it again to go loo then when he is back turns around and says to me...

"I will appreciate if you do what I told you to do and not play on your phone"
I said I am doing it which he said "no youre not" and I said you told me it wasn't urgent which he said "that's not the point you don't just sit there on your phone"

I was very shocked by his attitude, as stated he is NOT my manager or of any authority to me.

He didn't even come upstairs to see if I had done anything since giving it to me so I made a point to finish it all and put it on his desk before the end of the day at 5pm.

I then left and I did slam the door and ignore him when he said bye to me.

do you think I am wrong at all?


He asked me to type up some stuff for him, which was fine

[FruitCider]

You don't have a normal office job then do you Fruit Cider?

No clearly not but there were people making claims that all work places allow them, which clearly isn't true.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"For future reference, "he says "its not urgent, like 2-3 days I don't need it today" , means that you don't need to panic/rush/re-prioritise anything but please do it after your main/urgent work is done. That means it's more important than messaging your bored family member."

If he said he wants it in 2-3 days and she delivers in 2-3 days then that's fine. What she does in the meantime is not his business as he's not her supervisor or line manager.

[alltoomuchrightnow]

Both of you are unreasonable.
Where I work, phones are kept in lockers in another part of the building.
We can't be contacted by landlines although in an emergency someone could get through to reception.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"No clearly not but there were people making claims that all work places allow them, which clearly isn't true"

I find your point quite irrelevant.
Obviously there are some jobs where you can't have a mobile, but this does not apply to OP.

[WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue]

I can imagine there are workplaces where managers pick on staff that don't report to them, but I wouldn't want to work in one of those places. You could potentially have hundreds of people telling you off all the time.

Gwenhwyfar A manager correcting an employee’s behaviour is not “picking” on them; it is letting them know their behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace.

If you aren’t doing anything wrong, you won’t be “told off all the time”.

[skybluee]

I find it hilarious that a lot of the posts written to criticise the OP's grammar actually contain grammatical errors. Wailmer, your first sentence is horrific in that regard.

Not entirely sure why people were so quick to jump to put her down when it's irrelevant. I guess sometimes people can't help themselves but it's fairly mean.

OP, I hope it's resolved quickly. Good luck! :)

[planechocolate]

He might not be 'your' senior, but he is certainly considerably higher up in the business than you are, and is probably equal to (or maybe higher than) your manager.

Therefore you are his subordinate, whether you like it or not.

[FruitCider]

Ive never heard of not being able to use your phone at your workplace

Not sure how the point was irrelevant really Gwen. The point is, not only are people forced to work without access to mobile phones, but we also don't spontaneously combust or discombobulate when we can't use them during our working day, and perhaps OP should use theirs a bit less 😉

[ilovesooty]

I work somewhere very relaxed where phone use is not an issue.

However your replies on this tread and your admission of stroppy door slamming would indicate a pretty negative attitude. You haven't been there very long so it might be a good idea to think about how you come across to others.

[WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue]

I find it hilarious that a lot of the posts written to criticise the OP's grammar actually contain grammatical errors. Wailmer, your first sentence is horrific in that regard.

skybluee Maybe so, but it is not my job to type up written works. It is, however, the OP’s, so she should not be making SPAG errors that are far beyond shorthand and typos.

[GallicosCats]

I do forget on MN though that everyone sits and stares intently at their monitor for 8 hours a day, they don't even go to the toilet on company time.

They are clearly never on MN either...

[BumsexAtTheBingo]

I think it’s generally acceptable to go on your phone if there are periods where there is no work to do and also nothing you could be getting on with for the next day etc. I wouldn’t personally want to be on my phone when someone had asked me to do something unless it was an emergency. ‘Not urgent’ doesn’t mean it’s fine to fanny around on your phone and leave it until the last minute imo.

[thereallochnessmonster]

Sounds like a lot of people have walked past you on your phone! I think they’re so ubiquitous these days that people don’t always know when it’s inappropriate to be on them. Ie at work...

It’s not your job to amuse bored relative in hospital on work time.

[BumsexAtTheBingo]

I think your colleague has the right to point out if they think you’re slacking whether they’re your direct manager or not.
And what would you be able to say to anyone about him? That you were messing on your phone and he called you out on it?

[Londongirl888]

OP you are demonstrating that u are not that busy - be discreet. He does sound a twit and abusing the situation you are giving him opportunities to criticise your workload. Collaborative working is the way forward and this does seem odd that you can be on your phone. How would you feel if you were paying him to work per hour? Would you be happy that with him just doing his bit and using the remainder of time for personal stuff.

[limitedperiodonly]

I think your colleague has the right to point out if they think you’re slacking whether they’re your direct manager or not.

We have the right to do all sorts of things BumsexAtTheBingo but if I was the OP's direct manager and had no problem with her behaviour I'd regard him as a busybodying troublemaker. Context is all.

[theOtherPamAyres]

I think this man probably believes that you are under-employed.

To him, you appear to have spare capacity to work on bits of typing and admin for other people. When he sees you on your phone, he may have the impression that you haven't got anything to do. He's probably a man who'll moan about your down-time and how the firm could save themselves some money by employing a part-time post.

What he doesn't realise is that you are efficient and fast, and that you can eat the job with one hand tied behind your back, probably.

[iamthere123]

I find it really strange that phones are used so much. Mine is locked ina cupboard at 8am before the children come in and I can’t check it again until 3.30 when they gone home. Using my phone during the day when the children are in could cause me to get in a lot of trouble due to rules of child safety.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"Gwenhwyfar A manager correcting an employee’s behaviour is not “picking” on them; it is letting them know their behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace."

But he's not her manager so it's not his job.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"He might not be 'your' senior, but he is certainly considerably higher up in the business than you are, and is probably equal to (or maybe higher than) your manager."

Oh, do you know him? I find it odd that you know the hierarchy at OP's workplace better than she does.

[WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue]

But he's not her manager so it's not his job.

Gwenhwyfar He’s a manager so it is his job.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"Ive never heard of not being able to use your phone at your workplace

Not sure how the point was irrelevant really Gwen. The point is, not only are people forced to work without access to mobile phones, but we also don't spontaneously combust or discombobulate when we can't use them during our working day"

First of all, please don't quote someone else and pass it off as mine. I didn't write the first sentence you put in bold. I know full well that there are places where you can't use a mobile phone. I pointed out that they are not normal offices, like the one OP works in so it's irrelevant.
Of course people can get by without them, that's not the point.

"perhaps OP should use theirs a bit less 😉"

That is between OP and her line manager. Not your decision.

[limitedperiodonly]

Though understandable for some work environments iamthere123 locking your phone away for the entirety of the day is not normal or necessary for most people.

I wish people like you would stop pretending that it is.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"Gwenhwyfar He’s a manager so it is his job."

Did OP say he was a manager?
Either way, if you have a situation where you can be told off by anybody in the organisation, that's a really shit place to work in.

[FleurDeLips]

I’m usually sat at the same desk for 8 hours, I do not see any external people unless it is a pre arranged meeting. The only people i see are other colleagues and the nature of our job is quite vocal - talk to each other a lot (work related activity), email a lot, phone and text each other a lot. Phones are not banned as they are vital in the line of work anyway. I get texts from managers or colleagues during the day and if i didn’t have a phone I would miss work related activity

Sometimes we text ‘what time are you in/back’ or instructions to each other about things that need to be done

It’s not that weird